New Edition of the International Technology Roadmap for PV (ITRPV) to be Presented at PV Fab Managers Forum

New Co-Chairs from China and U.S. Represent Global PV Manufacturing Landscape

BERLIN, Germany and SAN
JOSE, Calif., U.S. — January 23, 2013 — The new edition of the International Technology Roadmap
for PV (ITRPV) will be presented and published at the annual technology event
PV Fab Managers Forum (www.pvgroup.org/pvfmf), organized by SEMI. New co-chairs from
China and the U.S. ensure global coverage of the supply chain from polysilicon
to PV systems. The new edition represents the input from more than 15 global PV
manufacturers.

Technologies that enable
new products such as glass-to-glass modules, bi-facial modules

Deeper look into
different technologies

The
analysis of PV systems is added in the new edition allowing a look into the
cost structure (from module, inverter, wiring, mounting and ground) of systems
in different countries.

Dr.
Markus Fischer, director, R&D Processes of Hanwha Q-Cells, and one of the
European co-chairs who has been an integral committee member since the very
beginning of the ITRPV efforts, said, “I am glad to see that the plans and
efforts to internationalize the ITRPV finally become reality.”

Mr.
Liu Yong, CTO of JA Solar, and Dr. Guoqiang Xing, CTO of Hareon Solar from
China, assumed the position as co-chairs of the ITRPV steering committee. Liu
Yong said, “As I am coming from the semiconductor industry, roadmaps and
standards are very common and especially useful tools. It was a surprise to me
to see that the PV industry players tried such a long time to work independently
and did not join such an initiative. JA Solar contributes to the roadmap— we
are convinced that the PV industry needs to jointly develop a technical roadmap
to determine and control the path of the technology.” With the leading
manufacturers involved in this initiative, Guoqiang Xing stated, “We can ensure
that the described technology trends and forecasts are accurate and represent
the real issues in manufacturing. Also, the annual update guarantees self-regulation
of the parameters that are published.”

Dr.
Stein Julsrud, vice president for R&D at REC Silicon and a new ITRPV
co-chair, commented, “As a polysilicon supplier, it is very important for us to
interact, understand the present and future needs and also receive feedback
from our customers. A global initiative like the ITRPV, steered by an
experienced industry body as SEMI, should be a very fruitful engagement for
everyone. We hope that more silicon suppliers will join this effort for an
industry-wide alignment so we can ensure a more cohesive global PV
manufacturing supply chain.”

The
new edition of the International Technology Roadmap for PV will be officially published
at the Photovoltaic Fab Managers Forum 2013 in Berlin, Germany (10-12 March, www.pvgroup.org/pvfmf). Attendees can register as of now
and benefit from the early-bird pricing until 1 March 2013.